Climate Law Blog

By Dena Adler The Trump Administration is losing on climate in the courts. More than two and a half years into the Trump Administration, no climate change-related regulatory rollback brought before the courts has yet survived legal challenge.   Nevertheless, climate change is one arena where the Trump Administration’s rollbacks have been both visible and real. […]

By Dena Adler Earlier this month, the Sabin Center submitted a public comment on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), stressing the document’s insufficient consideration of climate change impacts. At the end of 2017, Congress squeezed a provision […]

Each month, Arnold & Porter and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law collect and summarize developments in climate-related litigation, which we also add to our U.S. and non-U.S. climate litigation charts.  If you know of any cases we have missed, please email us at columbiaclimate@gmail.com. HERE ARE THE ADDITIONS TO THE CLIMATE CASE CHART SINCE UPDATE #119. FEATURED CASE Pennsylvania […]

By Dena Adler A groundbreaking ruling will break no new ground for a proposed Australian coal mine. On February 8, 2019, the Land & Environment Court of New South Wales upheld the government’s denial of an application by Gloucester Resources Limited to construct an open cut coal mine in New South Wales (NSW). The proposed […]

Today, the Sabin Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of local governments in support of state and environmental petitioners in California v. EPA, the lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s revised determination on the appropriateness of the greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards for light-duty vehicles (commonly referred to as the “clean […]

The Sabin Center, in partnership with the Columbia Environmental Law Clinic, today filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the International Municipal Lawyers Association in County of San Mateo v. Chevron Corporation—a case brought by California counties […]

By Dena Adler The escalating costs of damages from extreme weather events, many exacerbated by climate change, makes poignant a question with a serious price tag: who will be on the hook to pay for climate damages? In 2018, a host of lawsuits wound their way through the courts seeking an answer, including several from […]

By Michael Burger and Jessica Wentz As you know, in Juliana v. United States twenty-one individual youth plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Oregon against the United States, the president, and various other federal officials and agencies, claiming that the “nation’s climate system” is critical to their rights to life, liberty, and […]

By Dena Adler It has been a busy few weeks in global climate change litigation. Even as world leaders gather in Poland this week to continue writing the rulebook for the Paris Agreement, countries are already being sued for their failure to deliver climate action. Here is a snapshot of a few key legal developments, […]

By Michael Burger Yesterday, the Sabin Center, together with the Columbia Environmental Law Clinic, submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the International Municipal Lawyers Association, in New York City’s appeal of a district court decision dismissing its climate change lawsuit against fossil fuel companies. That […]